Pi$$ed at a cop

[TexasR.N.]

Had a patient brought in who was involved in a single vehicle MVA. Pt was drunk and ADMITTED IT to the police officer. I was thinking "well this is a slam dunk for the cop". But what does the cop say???
Since your wreck only involved you I am going to brush this under the rug.

WTF

All I could think about was this A$$hole gets another opportunity to kill my family or yours. The cop left before I could get out of the room. If I could have caught him I honestly don't know what I would have said. I just couldn't believe his apparent attitude towards DWI's.

This driver ended up with injuries that might keep them from ever driving again.

I have lost count of the number of innocent people I have treated who were injured by drunk drivers. I dispise drunk drivers. If you drink DON'T DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a side note this not an open thread to bash police officers in general. I am certain this is not the general consensus (letting a DWI sneak by) in the LE community. Do not start posting "all cops are bad" crap.


Craig

[bigcountrysg]

You know the date and time of the accident. You know the department that is involved. Contact that department and make a complaint about it.

You never know this guy that was your patient maybe a buddy of the cop. So the cop let him off.

[cchase]

carefull on filling a complant, we keep hearing more and more about HIPAA violations, id hate to see you get burned trying to do a good thing

[bigcountrysg]

Originally Posted by cchase

carefull on filling a complant, we keep hearing more and more about HIPAA violations, id hate to see you get burned trying to do a good thing

You can do it with out even naming the patient.

You know the date and time of the accident. That is on record, the name of the officer that responded to said accident is on record.

You contact the pd with that information. The commander can take that information and question the officer why the drunk was not arrested or charged with drunk driving.

As long as you do not give out the patient name. You never violated HIPAA.

[tinman1981]

This is just another fine example of "double standards".

Happens ALL THE TIME.


And now to respect your wish of this thread not being about bashing cops, I will stop now

[19558077]

the next time it may involve someone else aside from just him(the dui), could even be a small child, or even a relative of the office

[bigcountrysg]

Originally Posted by tinman1981

This is just another fine example of "double standards".

Happens ALL THE TIME.


And now to respect your wish of this thread not being about bashing cops, I will stop now

With out knowing the history of the cop or the history of the drunk. I can not say it was a double standard.

The cop could have seen the fact that the guy injured himself, wrecked his car, maybe he hopes if he cuts him a break on not charging him with a dui. That maybe this experince will sober him up real quick.

Was this guy ticketed for anything at all. If not then there is a big problem with this cop. Which needs to be reported.

[TexasR.N.]

Originally Posted by bigcountrysg

You know the date and time of the accident. You know the department that is involved. Contact that department and make a complaint about it. You never know this guy that was your patient maybe a buddy of the cop. So the cop let him off.

Without saying too much, I can say with great certainty that the cop and the driver were not friends or associates.

Originally Posted by cchase

carefull on filling a complant, we keep hearing more and more about HIPAA violations, id hate to see you get burned trying to do a good thing

Which is why I haven't mentioned when or where this occured, the drivers race, gender, age or other identifying markers.

Me in red

Originally Posted by bigcountrysg

With out knowing the history of the cop or the history of the drunk. I can not say it was a double standard.

The cop could have seen the fact that the guy injured himself, wrecked his car, maybe he hopes if he cuts him a break on not charging him with a dui. That maybe this experince will sober him up real quick.
I have left out info that makes this scenario unlikely. Not trying to be coy, I just can't disclose everything I know.

Was this guy ticketed for anything at all Nope nothing!!!. If not then there is a big problem with this cop. Which needs to be reported.

First time I have run across this guy so I don't know how he operates. I know a lot of the LEO's from different dept's & agencies, they bring drunks in all of the time with all sorts of injuries and they don't give any slack. If you are drunk they are going to arrest you once cleared.

Originally Posted by tinman1981

This is just another fine example of "double standards". Happens ALL THE TIME. And now to respect your wish of this thread not being about bashing cops, I will stop now

Thank you for not going off on a bashing spree. Also, see above.

I think the cop was just busy and didn't want to get tied up doing paperwork. Maybe he's seen too many get off by a lawyer and said the heck with it. By no means am I justifying not pursuing DUI / DWI charges, I can only speculate as to why he let the guy off of the hook. I just know I was pi$$ed that this cop let the drunk go.

All I could do was think about my wife out with our boys and as she proceeds through an intersection and BAM!!!! broadsided by this guy (or someone like him) and I have to address issues no person should have to deal with.

Sorry for the rant. This is just a huge pet peeve of mine. Until you take care of a 3 year old shivering with fear, crying and calling for their mom, while the mom is in another room being worked on because some drunk blew through an intersection, well, I guess it won't be as personal to you as it is too me.

Craig

i understand the situation that you are in, i would have a hard time trying to figure out what to do. i feel that they patient should be punished like you said, next time might be you or your family, or someone elses kid... i would do what i could to report what i can without risking my job.... good luck